The other day I removed the air pump and ACV. Now the car does not want to idle. I have to keep giving it gas or it will just stall out. Then when it finally decides to idle, it's a rough idle at about 650 rpm. I didn't have a new gasket for the block off plate, so I used some of that blue silicone gasket goo. Is there something else I was supposed to do? The car is a stock 85 -SE.

 

Not sure, did you accidentally create a vacuum leak? Maybe knock a hose off or something? Usually a rough idle can be traced to a vacuum leak, 9 times out of 10.

 

I would bet that the silicone didn't seal up the block off plate as well as you would think. I had the same problem so I went to Advance Autoparts and bought some paper gasket stuff. I cut it out in the shape of the block off plate and put it in with some silicone and it sealed it right up. Also, carb cleaner is always good at helping to find vacuum leaks.

 

Something to think about when you remove your AP is that the fresh air that it supplies is REQUIRED to keep your cats from clogging up if you haven't already removed them.

The way the AP and Cats work together is to allow the fresh O2 air from the AP to be pumped into the exhaust, specifically the Cats at high load conditions. At all other times, this air is bypassed and sent directly into the exhaust ports via your AP control valve that your block-off plate now covers.

Without the AP in place to pump O2 rich air to the Cats, the platinum core will not get up to temperature, and any unburned fuel that you have flowing through the system will quickly collect as carbon deposits on your platinum core, very quickly leading to a clogged Cat, and reduced power.

I know that a lot of people here take out their AP system, but it's there for a reason, and if you don't ALSO go with a Cat replacement pipe, you're just asking for trouble. JMTC, HTH,

 

Wait, sorry, when I said stock I meant mostly stock.... The cats are already gone.

 

I know when i disconnected a friends a/c, I accidentally unplugged one of the wires that plugs into one of the vacuum advances. It would not idle either. Maybe something to check...